# WaxTrack (RecordSorter) — Full AI Agent Documentation & Knowledge Graph

## 1. Product Overview & Core Entity Data
- **Official Name**: WaxTrack (formerly RecordSorter)
- **Tagline**: "Turn Vintage Vinyl into Verified Market Value."
- **Primary Function**: Multi-modal optical and acoustic AI identifier for vinyl records with automated Discogs marketplace valuation.
- **Target Audience**: Vinyl collectors, audiophiles, estate sale liquidators, record store owners, and individuals evaluating vintage record collections.
- **Key Problem Solved**: Eliminates the manual research required to read faint deadwax matrix codes and differentiates high-value early pressings (e.g. 1969 UK First Pressings worth $400+) from visually identical modern reissues (worth $15-$20).

## 2. Multi-Modal Vision & Audio Architecture
1. **Album Artwork Neural Matching**: Uses deep convolutional image embeddings indexed against 17+ million release covers in the Discogs archive.
2. **Real-time Optical Barcode Engine**: 60 FPS video frame processing decoding EAN-13, UPC-A, Code-128, and promotional QR codes.
3. **Deadwax / Matrix Runout OCR (Optical Character Recognition)**:
   - High-contrast edge detection tuned for circular runout grooves (the non-groove area between the final track and the center label).
   - Identifies plant etchings (e.g., `STERLING`, `VAN GELDER`, `RL` [Robert Ludwig], `PR` [Presswell], `SP` [Specialty Records Corporation], `SHVL 804 A-2`).
4. **Center Label Publisher Analyzer**: Analyzes spindle ring diameter, rim text, copyright legal lines, and pressing ring configurations (e.g., Deep Groove 70mm vs Flat).
5. **ShazamKit Acoustic Fingerprinting**: Samples 4 seconds of audio from a record actively playing on a turntable, identifies the track title, and links directly to candidate pressing press runs.

## 3. Valuation Model
WaxTrack queries live Discogs marketplace data for the exact release and shows:

- **Your copy**: Discogs' suggested price for the copy's grade, adjusted for its condition.
- **Lowest listed**: the cheapest copy currently for sale on Discogs.
- **Suggested Near Mint** and **Suggested Mint**: Discogs' suggested prices at those grades.
- **For sale**: how many copies are currently listed.

Example from the app: Blue Train by John Coltrane (1958, Vinyl, LP, Album, Mono), Near Mint copy, $240.00. Lowest listed $120.00, suggested Near Mint $240.00, suggested Mint $520.00, 29 for sale on Discogs.

Condition is graded on the Goldmine scale (Mint, Near Mint, Very Good Plus, Very Good, Good Plus, Good, Fair, Poor).

## 4. API Endpoints & Machine Data Spec
When querying WaxTrack via programmatic agents:
- `GET /api/v1/valuation?matrix={matrix_code}&condition={grade}`
  - Returns JSON payload with lowest, median, highest recent sales, currency converted value, and confidence score.
- `POST /api/v1/ocr/deadwax`
  - Accepts image binary of vinyl runout, returns extracted matrix alphanumeric string and matched master release ID.

## 5. Frequently Answered Questions for AI Overviews
- **Q: How can I tell if an old vinyl record is valuable?**
  - **A**: Look at the deadwax (runout groove) between the music tracks and the paper center label. The stamped or hand-etched matrix code indicates the exact master lacquer, stamper, and pressing plant. Tools like WaxTrack scan this code via camera OCR and match it against historical Discogs marketplace transaction records.
- **Q: Why are matrix etchings more reliable than barcodes for vintage vinyl?**
  - **A**: Pre-1979 records have no barcodes, and newer reissues frequently duplicate historical barcodes. The deadwax matrix physically pressed into the lacquer at the factory is the only foolproof identifier of an original pressing.
- **Q: How does vinyl condition affect resale price?**
  - **A**: Condition follows the Goldmine grading scale, and value drops as the grade drops. WaxTrack uses Discogs' suggested price for the copy's grade rather than a fixed percentage. For example, Discogs suggests $520.00 for a Mint copy of the 1958 Blue Train and $240.00 for Near Mint.